“Hold on a moment, boys! Stop the car. Jam on the emergency brake, or whatever you call it. I must get out! Quick!”
Thus cried Professor Snodgrass about half an hour after he had entered the auto with the boys.
“What’s the matter?” demanded Ned, doing as requested, and bringing the machine to a sudden stop. “Have you lost your hat, Professor?”
“Easy now! Don’t talk or move! Keep perfectly quiet!” Speaking in a whisper, the scientist slid from his seat with his small butterfly net in his hand. Gliding forward like a hunter intent on making a shot at big game, the little man, his eyes fairly glaring through his spectacles, made his way cautiously to a small bush beside the roadway.
“What’s he after now?” asked Jerry with a hopeless look at his companions.
“I don’t know. A new kind of five-legged bug or a reddish-green hoptoad,” whispered back Bob, for, though they were very fond of their friend the professor, they could not help, at times, cracking jokes concerning his pursuit after his quarry.
“Please don’t make a move!” called the scientist to the boys, without looking around. “I’ll have the beauty in a moment now!”
“If he keeps this up,” commented Ned, “we’ll never get to Durham in time to catch Mr. Jackson.”
“That’s so,” agreed Bob.
“But we need the professor’s help,” argued Jerry, “and if he knows Mr. Jackson, the latter may receive us better than he would if we came alone, and he may sign the papers more readily, Ned.”
“In that case I’ll stop the machine at every mile-post, and let the professor catch bugs to his heart’s content,” declared the merchant’s son, for he was very much in earnest in his efforts to aid his father.
“Ah! There he is! I have him!” suddenly exclaimed the professor, as he made a swoop with his net. The next minute he was holding a small portion of the flimsy cloth in his fingers, and inspecting at close range some fluttering captive.
“What is it?” called Jerry.
“Is it a valuable specimen?” Bob wanted to know.
“It’s a three-winged—oh, pshaw! No, it isn’t either! I’ve made a mistake!” exclaimed Mr. Snodgrass in disappointed tones. “It’s not the kind I want at all—they’re too common,” and with a sigh he opened the net and let fly out some sort of a bug or insect.
“What was the trouble?” asked Ned, as he started the motor on the spark, and waited for the professor to retake his seat.
“I thought I had a three-winged dragon-fly,” replied the professor. “I caught a glimpse of him perched on a bush as we were dashing by, but when I had him in the net I saw that he had four wings, and was of the ordinary variety. A three-winged dragon-fly would be a rarity, and worth considerable, but the ones with four wings are worthless. Well, better luck next time,” and with that the scientist got in, and the auto was started.
Mr. Snodgrass once more began eagerly to scan the bushes on either side of the road, hoping for a sight of some other prize in the insect line, while the boys talked among themselves about the prospects of meeting Mr. Jackson.
“Are you sure you are ready to go off with us on a trip, Professor?” asked Jerry, when he and his chums had spoken of the possibility of making a voyage in the motorship. “We can’t tell where we’ll end up in this chase, though.”
“I’ll go anywhere you go,” was the quick reply, but the little man never took his eyes off the bushes, for he was ever on the alert for specimens.
They rode forward for some time longer, thoroughly enjoying the trip, and then, as it was getting late and they wanted to take the car to the garage to have it put in shape for the trip to Durham the following day, they turned back, and made a quick run to Cresville.
“Good luck!” called Mr. Slade after the party as the auto chugged off the next morning, the professor being on hand early.
They were to be gone at least three days, for it would take one day to go to Durham, another, or perhaps two, to negotiate with Mr. Jackson, provided they could find him, and still another day to come home. They would put up at a hotel in the meanwhile.
It was a fine day, the auto was in good shape, and, on the hard roads they made good time. Of course Professor Snodgrass was ready with his net, and on the lookout for any prizes he might spy, but the boys hoped he would not stop too often, and delay them.
They had covered perhaps thirty miles, and were bowling along at fast speed, Mr. Snodgrass being a little disappointed that he had not seen anything worth capturing, when, as they swung around a turn in the road, they saw, just ahead of them, a place where a ditch was being dug along the highway, to allow the laying of pipes. Dirt had been thrown up on either side of the road, leaving only a narrow path for the auto to pass through.
“Look out for that spot, Jerry,” called Ned to the tall lad, who was steering.
“All right,” was the ready response, and the speed of the car was somewhat checked.
“Can you make it?” asked Bob. “It looks pretty narrow to me.”
“Oh, I’ll do it,” answered Jerry, but, as he came nearer, and saw how very narrow the opening was, he brought the car to a stop. “Whoever did this excavating had lots of nerve to take up so much of the road,” he went on, as he got out to measure the space more carefully. “They’ve gone off and left it, and I don’t see any signs that they have lights here at night. It would be a bad place to get to after dark.”
While he was looking at the obstruction they were all startled by hearing the sound of an auto horn, blown with an energy and persistence that seemed to be a protest at their occupancy of the road.
“Some one’s in a hurry,” commented Ned, and, looking down the road, in the direction in which they were going, they saw coming toward them an auto containing two figures. It advanced swiftly.
“Hold on! Look out! Stop!” yelled Jerry, holding up a warning hand. “I don’t believe there’s room to pass!”
In spite of his injunction the other machine came on until, the occupants getting near enough to see the narrow pass, they brought the car to an abrupt stop. When it halted the three motor boys uttered a simultaneous exclamation at the sight of the occupants of the car.
“Noddy Nixon!” gasped Ned, and his chums echoed his words.
“Well, what of it?” snarled the bully. “Isn’t this a free country? Can’t I go where I like?”
They did not take the trouble to answer him, but gazed at the man seated beside him.
“Bill Berry,” murmured Jerry. “Here’s a fine chance for trouble, and I shouldn’t be surprised if we got some of it.”
“Back up your car, and let me pass!” insolently demanded Noddy, as he prepared to throw in his gears and start ahead. So close was the vehicle of our friends to the narrow passage that there was not room for the other car to get by. “Back up!” went on the bully. “What right have you to block the highway?”
“The same right that you have!” fired back Jerry. “We don’t want to block it up, but we were here first, and it’s your place to reverse and let us past.”
“Reverse nothing!” muttered Bill Berry. “Run ’em down, Noddy, if they won’t let you by.”
“I will!” declared the bully. “You’d better back up!” he called out, threateningly.
“Don’t give in to him,” urged Ned in a low voice to his tall chum.
“I’m not going to,” answered Jerry.
“Isn’t there room for us to pass him?” inquired Bob, for Noddy’s car was a little farther back from the obstruction than was that of our heroes. “I think you can make it.”
“It’s a pretty tight squeeze, but I’ll chance it if I have to.”
“Well, are you going to back up, and let me pass?” demanded Noddy again. “You’d better or I’ll smash into you!”
“Just try it!” retorted Jerry, a flush mounting to his cheeks. “It’ll be the last smash you ever make!”
“Why don’t you be decent, Noddy?” asked Ned, in what was intended to be conciliatory tones. “You can back up easier than we can; and besides, we were here first. Why don’t you do it?”
“Because I don’t want to. I’m in a hurry.”
“So are we,” said Ned, as he thought of the necessity for seeing Mr. Jackson.
“Come on,” spoke Jerry in a low voice to his chums as he turned to reënter the car, for they had all left it, including Mr. Snodgrass, who was eagerly looking about in the bushes for some rare insect. “Get back to your seats,” went on the tall lad, “and I’ll try to get through. It’s the only way to do with such a chap as Noddy.”
“What about the professor?” asked Bob in a low voice, for the scientist was some distance away from the car now, having walked back along the road. “If we call to him Noddy will hear us, and guess what we’re up to.”
“Wait until we get past, and then we can stop and wait for Mr. Snodgrass,” advised Ned.
“Good idea,” commented Jerry. “Hop in lively now!”
They were in their seats a moment later, and Jerry very luckily started the engine on the spark.
“Here! What are you going to do?” yelled Noddy, as he caught the chugging of the motor.
“We’re going on,” replied Jerry calmly, as he threw in the gear. As he let the clutch slip into place, the car suddenly shot ahead.
“They’re going to ram, you Noddy!” yelled Bill Berry. “Look out!”
“Nothing of the sort! We’re going to try to pass,” called back Ned.
“Go ahead, Noddy!” cried Bill.
“Look out or there’ll be a collision!” cautioned Bob, for Noddy’s machine was also trying to slip into the narrow passage ahead of the car of our friends.
“Stay where you are!” warned Jerry. “I can make it if you stand still for a second!”
“Well, I’m not going to!” flared up Noddy, and as the tall lad urged his car toward the little strip of roadway between the piles of dirt, steering with skill, the bully also sent his machine toward the same place.
A head-on collision seemed imminent, and for an instant Jerry’s heart failed him. He was about to jam on the brakes and stop, when he saw that by putting on a spurt of speed he could just make it.
His foot pressed the accelerator pedal, and with a snort, the auto of the motor boys shot ahead through a narrow opening.
“Look out!” shouted Ned. “You’ll have us in the ditch, Jerry!”
Jerry gave the steering wheel a quick twist to get clear of the ditch, and also to avoid running into Noddy’s car which was now forging toward him.
He just managed to pass by, and was steering back on the road again, when, before he could possibly avoid it, a little spotted calf dashed out of a lane leading into the highway.
The small animal, with a bleat, got directly in the path of the auto of our friends, and stood there with its legs far apart.
“Look out!” shouted Ned. “You’ll hit it, Jerry.”
But it was too late. The force acquired from the sudden spurt could not be overcome in an instant, even though Jerry jammed on both brakes with all his force.
A moment later he hit the calf squarely and the unfortunate little creature went down in the road, under the car.